Document summary
It is inescapable that China needs coal, and that coal needs water. In 2011, the coal industry, from mining to power generation and coal-to-chemicals conversion, accounted for roughly one-sixth of China?’s water withdrawals. This level of water use is not sustainable; water tables are declining and in some areas coal mining is already being constrained. This report shows that China should be able to reduce its coal-related water use, even compared to 2008 levels, if it adopts energy efficient growth policies (restricting coal use to c2020 levels) and better technologies. If not, coal-related water withdrawals will continue to increase, and put further constraints on growth.